Groton board: Restaurateur's site plan still incomplete

By Pierre Comtois, Correspondent

Updated:
11/20/2012 11:54:16 PM EST

GROTON -- After an earlier meeting when it seemed as if the end might be in sight, restaurateur George Pergantis and members of the Planning Board were as far apart as ever last week, when a public hearing yielded more questions than answers about Pergantis' plans to open a new seafood restaurant.

Pergantis engineer Jeff Brem opened the Nov. 15 hearing by addressing concerns raised by board members at a previous meeting, including the submission of a floor plan covering the restaurant and function-hall portions of the proposed eatery.

According to Brem, seating would come to 64 for the restaurant and 90 for the function hall. The engineer noted that the planned seating came to only half of the 314 that the town's building inspector determined was allowed.

"It's on the plan now," said Brem of the seating issue. "It's black and white."

If seating was to be set at 154, asked board member Russell Burke, then why did a sign on the 124 Main St. property read "over 200"?

Pergantis told the board that the sign was wrong.

Board members pointed out that a sign should not even have been there without a sign permit from the Historical Districts Commission.

Other concerns about the application raised by the board included the fate of a fenced-off swimming pool on the property and parking, which at one time seemed settled but which came up again due to the uncertainty of the proposed seating.

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Board member Tim Svarczkopf feared that if seating for 314 were allowed by law, how could the town be sure that if at some future date, customers might exceed the 154 seats, with subsequent traffic spilling onto Main Street and impacting other businesses?

Board Chairman John Giger said the problem could be solved if the applicant were willing to sign an agreement that would definitely limit seating to 154.

Brem said he was sure his client would agree to such an arrangement because that was all he was applying for.

Some board members felt the plan did not show everything that was needed, including existing structures, property lines, the swimming pool and adjacent apartment units and topographic details.

"As far as I'm concerned, that makes it an incomplete site plan," said Burke, who later said landscaping details on the site plan were "cartoonish."

Pergantis then rose unsteadily and charged the board with not really wanting a restaurant on the property, that town officials would rather see office space built there.

"I'm too old for this," said Pergantis. "I'm very angry. I need help and no one helps me."

Chairman John Giger, seeking to defuse the situation, told Pergantis nothing was being asked of him that was not asked of every applicant, the board just needed more information.

This was the third try by Pergantis for a special permit and site-plan review, said Giger, but while Pergantis has supplied some information, he had not supplied others.

With a more complete site plan needed as well as more information on parking, seating, occupancy issues, and landscaping still outstanding, board members voted to continue the public hearing until Dec. 6.

Also continued until Dec. 6 was a public hearing with the Groton Electric Light Department.

That hearing was continued pending more information on a number of waivers to be sought by GELD in relation to its plans to build a new office/garage complex on its property off Station Avenue.

In an appearance before the board last week, GELD attorney Robert Collins summarized the project to members, saying that the 3.8-acre site of the department's existing buildings would be reduced to 1.5 acres with all operations to be consolidated within the confines of a new building when completed.

The planned facility would be bracketed by two parking lots with 21 spaces.

"This is a significant improvement over what exists today in addition to aesthetic improvements," said Collins of the plan.

"This facility actually speaks to those goals," Collins said, referring to the town's larger goal of drawing foot traffic to the neighborhood.

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